title: The diagnosis of uterine cervical polyps in a low resource setting: the positive predictive value of clinical judgment--a series of 192 cases at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
abstract: As far as we know, the accuracy of clinical judgment in diagnosing uterine cervical polyps has not been assessed in sub-Saharan Africa. Our objective was to discover the positive predictive value (PPV) of clinical judgment in the diagnosis of cervical polyps. This is a retrospective descriptive study of 192 patients, carried out by the Departments of Pathology and Gynaecology of the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital, Cameroon. The diagnosis of cervical polyp was confirmed by histopathology examination in 169 patients, giving a PPV rate of 88.0%. The PPV of clinical judgment in the diagnosis of cervical polyps is acceptable in our setting but the frequency of premalignant and malignant lesions encountered is too high (10.4%), even in the presence of a confirmed cervical polyp (8.9%). Even in areas where there are limited resources, we recommend a systematic histopathology examination of any clinically suspected cervical polyp.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMBS), University of Yaoundé 1, PO Box 4362, Yaoundé, Cameroon. pfoumane2004@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foumane
authors.forename: Zacharie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sando
authors.forename: Julius Sama
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dohbit
authors.forename: Lydienne Lesly
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bilo'o
authors.forename: Emile Telesphore
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Mboudou
authors.forename: Jean Louis Essame
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Oyono
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002163:Cameroon; D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011127:Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Cervical polyp; clinical diagnosis; direct visual inspection; histopathology examination; sub-Saharan Africa